Another city has accomplished what Portland can't seem to do: ban smoking. This week it's Baltimore.
As both advocates and opponents looked on in a packed gallery, the Baltimore City Council voted to ban smoking in public places Monday by a vote of 9-2, with four council members abstaining.
Council Vice President Robert Curran, the bill’s sponsor, called the vote historic. "You can all take credit for saving thousands of lives."
According to a recent story in the Eugene Register-Guard, "Sixteen states have extended smoking bans to bars and taverns, including Oregon's neighbors, California and Washington."
What are we waiting for, people?
A study released last November determined that "Oregon ranks in the top 10 of states having highway laws that promote safety and injury prevention."
The scorecard rankings were based on Chicago-based Emergency Nurses Association criteria derived from five policy areas that come under the jurisdiction of the states, four of which focused on the presence of highway safety laws including primary seat belt laws, child passenger safety laws, graduated driver's licensing and universal motorcycle helmet laws...
We clearly care about the safety of our residents and visitors. The ironic thing is that many of these laws, such as the seat belt and helmet laws, are meant to protect the individual. Smoking laws, on the other hand, protect not only the individual (unless they want to take their pursuit of cancer outside), but tens or hundreds of others in the vicinity who are spared the harmful effects—not to mention the cloying stench—of one person's complete disregard for and reckless endangerment of the health of everyone around them.
Let's stop making excuses and allowing ourselves to be suckered by the tobacco industry, their lawyers and those addicted to their products. We're smarter than that. Let's ban smoking now.
Baltimore snuffs out smoking | Examiner.com
Bill would expand ban on smoking | The Register-Guard
Oregon ranks high for highway safety laws | Portland Business Journal
Technorati Tags: Oregon, politics, Portland, smoking ban, Baltimore, tobacco
yeah, the ability to choose for yourself whether or not to smoke in a friggin' bar is over-rated.
Posted by: kyle | March 01, 2007 at 02:15 PM